When wrong is right
by Danica West
Summary: Something isn't quite right at Crash and Alec can't figure out why he's acting all weird.. M/A
1. I'm not alright

CHAPTER 1

* * *

Alec slowly closed his eyes and felt all his senses sharpen. The sounds of cheering voices, tripping footsteps and loud music, silently subsided along with his aggressive pace. He closed it all out, made the sounds disappear completely. Something felt wrong. He wanted, _needed,_ to find out what. There was something in the air that caused his heartbeat to rise and his body to be extra alert. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but the fact of not knowing the reason for his sudden change in behaviour, didn't make him all peachy inside either.

A familiar bartender greeted him with a small nod, while holding up an empty glass. The classical invitation for one more drink. He returned the favour, nodding a silent _well, why not_. It would be his fourth glass of scotch, but it didn't matter one bit. It would take at least the entire bottle before the alcohol would kick in and another half to make his head spin. A healthy metabolism did have its downsides.

He held the glass loosely in his right hand circling the drink around as he looked dully at the three ice cubes. At the same time, he noticed a couple of girls staring seductively at him, secretly whispering and laughing about God knows what but for the first time ever, he found himself ignoring the invite they obviously both were throwing at him.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Dude! Alec, my man," someone yelled from a distance.

Alec immediately turned around, swallowed the rest of his scotch and leaned against the bar table, his green eyes patiently looking at his lanky friend with a cocky smirk. He tried to ignore his out-of-control-senses and kept a straight face while Sketchy talked.

"Dude, I just got hustled, man. You need to do something!"

Shifting all his weight to his left leg, Alec shook his head and couldn't help it but smile. He really wanted to help out his friend, but with everything else distracting him and driving him crazy, he doubted he would be at any help at all. "Sketch, there's a difference between sucking at pool and getting hustled," he answered wisely.

"But you gotta help me. I'm seriously broke if I don't get my cash back," Sketchy pleaded, smashing his hands together into a praying fist. If the floor hadn't been filled with dirt and spilled liquor, he would probably have fallen onto his knees too. "C'mon, you can kick their asses in less than 3 minutes – whaddaya say?"

Alec wanted to say yes, win a couple of games, give Sketchy some much needed free cash, keep half of it for himself and continue the night with the two hot blonds who apparently still stood patiently at the bar, eyeing him, fantasising about what he hid under his shirt and jeans. But tonight just wasn't the night. The odd smell in the air, his pacing heart, uncontrollable body and alerted senses told him a game of pool and hot chicks was the last thing he needed at the moment, and he chose to trust his instincts.

"Sorry, man. Not tonight."

The look of defeat was written all over Sketchy's face. His arms dropped to his sides and you could easily see his mind processing the next week's complications and problems of not having enough money to get by till next Friday. You couldn't help it but feel just a little sorry for the guy.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll lend you some cash for the next week and win your money back in a few days," he said shrugging, acting like it wasn't a big deal… it really wasn't that big of a deal.

A lot of people thought Alec didn't have a conscience, but at times like these, he proved a lot of people wrong. Pity, they weren't there to see it. Well, _pity_ wasn't the right word for it, _luckily_ would actually be more appropriate.

Sketchy's eyes lid up like small Christmas lights and he immediately sent Alec a thankful smile. "I owe you, man."

"Yeah well, you could just do me a favour and quit playing pool. No offense, buddy… but you suck." Alec raised a preaching eyebrow at his friend and pointed his empty glass at his friend's chest. "Big time."

Even though, the words had stung a little, it was the truth and Sketchy didn't mind hearing it. He was just relieved that he didn't have to live on breadcrumbs and poisoned water for the next week. Once again his friend had saved his sorry ass and he promised himself that he, at least, would quit involving cash when playing pool. He betted 20 bucks that that promise would be broken in less than a month… well, make that 30.

Alec turned around and left his empty drink on the table, along with some cash. The tip alone was worth more than the expensive liquid, but he didn't care to look through the bundle of cash for a more suitable amount. Unlike Sketchy, he could easily find a quick way to win some greens without breaking a sweat. Compliments from good ol' Manticore.

The bar was getting more and more crowded. People couldn't help it but bump into each other due to lack of space. It felt like the sounds, voices and the thickness in the air was slowly drowning him. It had suddenly gotten a little unpleasant. He had never experienced something like it before. Maybe he was coming down with something, but that couldn't be possible – he never got sick, he wasn't able to get sick.

"Suga', you okay?" A voice behind him asked with a hint of concern. Original Cindy waved her empty pitcher at the bartender and placed it at the oblong table. Like everyone else, she knew Alec wouldn't admit if he one day would found himself in a situation where he actually _wouldn't_ be _all_ _right_. Heck, even if he had 5 bullet wounds and 2 knifes in his back, he'd be waving people away, smiling, laughing and telling worried faces, "_I'm fine, people, I'm fine. Never been better_."

But she could clearly see something was off. He hadn't even answered her with a cocky remark yet. She tilted her head and gave him a suspicious look while she blindly paid for the pitcher of beer. His eyes dazedly followed the switch from money to pitcher in slow motion and as a result Cindy snapped her one finger at him and shot her hip to the side, while placing her hand on her waist. "Fool, what's up with you?" she snapped, hoping he'd wave her off with one of his lame comments. The guy had a ton of them. Why he hadn't used one of them yet actually worried her.

"I'm fine, Cin, jeez. Can't a guy gaze at a gorgeous chick without getting interrupted?" he said and winked playfully at her. A simple line like that would have worked on 98 percent of the girls at Crash, but fortunately O.C knew he was just being a jerk. She sighed with relief.

"Yo' know, I'm glad there's guys like you around, hot boy. You remind me, _everyday_, why I'm into hunnies and not… _dat_." She pointed at him, starting from his feet and ending the mockingly pointing at his face.

Alec dramatically placed a hand on his heart and made a hurtful face at his chocolate skinned friend. "Ouch! You aim where it hurts, Cin."

Meanwhile, Max was sitting watching some guys play pool. At her side sat Sketchy. He gobbled the last of his beer and slammed it back on the table with a sigh of relief. Just a few minutes ago he had been frantically worried and weary after losing a game of pool. Not only did he lose the game, but with it he'd been stupid enough to lose a 100 bucks. She and O.C had warned him, though. They both knew that pool and Sketchy were two things that just didn't go hand in hand, but Sketch was an avid optimist and he truly believed that _this_ was his lucky day. Unfortunately, it turned out that it wasn't.

Max ran a hand through her long dark hair and cocked her head to the side, then placed her hand on her neck and felt the warmth from her skin reek through her fingers.

"Yeah, it's hot tonight, huh?" Sketchy commented and wiped off the sweat on his forehead. She nodded and a part of her was relieved she wasn't the only one who felt the sudden heated temperature. To cool off, she drank the last of her beer and instantly felt the cooling sensation dampen her body.

"So did Alec come through?" she asked and nodded at the line of pool tables. She smiled teasingly at Sketch, reminding him of his defeat. Of course, she felt sorry for him, but someday that boy had to learn how to take better care of his money.

Sketchy sighed and shrugged. "Nah, at least not today."

"So how are you gonna live for the next week?"

"He'll lend me some cash and win back my money some other time," Sketchy replied with a big smile on his face.

"How noble." Max didn't hide the obvious sarcasm in her voice, but she was still a bit surprised over Alec showing some signs of humanity. Usually, the guy didn't care about anyone else but himself. In return Sketchy would probably owe Alec a year of free beer at Crash or cover his shifts at Jam Pony whenever it's needed. There was simply no way the king of all selfishness and hustlers would lend Sketchy money _and_ get Sketchy's lost money back without getting something in return.

Sure, they say, there's a first time for anything, but _anything_ clearly must have some sort of limit.

Still she wondered why Alec had postponed the game of pool. He could easily had won Sketchy's money back in no time, but for some reason he had chosen not to – what a friend.

She rocked impatiently back and forth on her feet, both elbows on the small round table. Unconsciously she let her eyes trail down at the bar where Alec was standing. He had that famous smirk on his face while he was talking to O.C. Judging from Cindy's look of disgust and pointing finger, she guessed he probably just said something stupid.

"I better go save Cindy," Max sighed playfully. They had waited too long for their pitcher to get refilled and as always the blame was on Alec. She smiled at Sketchy, rolled her eyes at him and nodded down at the bar. "Sometimes I wonder if he suffers from some kind of deadly disease where he'll die, if he doesn't succeed to piss off at least 10 people a day."

Sketchy grinned and shook his head. "Ah, c'mon Max, give him a break. He's not that bad."

She smiled and shrugged. Sketchy was right. Alec wasn't _that_ bad, but he was still _bad_… and he just knew how to get on her nerves.

"You two are like cats and dogs – ever considered a truce? You might just get along."

Max almost laughed out loud, but managed to keep her mouth shut. If only Sketchy knew the truth of his own statement. She and Alec acted exactly like cats and dogs would against each other, but she doubted that it was because of her feline DNA and Alec's canine DNA. They were both, after all, human. Well, kind of.

"The day Alec will stop being such an ass, I'll consider a truce… maybe," she added and started heading towards the crowded bar.

What a beautiful lie. Like they'd ever stop irritating each other.

The two girls were slowly starting to give up on their prey. That handsome guy they'd been checking out was unfortunately occupied with some other beautiful girl, and based on their casual body language, they probably knew each other. How typical. All the good ones were always taken. It was his loss, though. Besides, there were lots of other guys at Crash. Maybe they weren't as amazingly good-looking as Alec, but as the saying goes – don't judge a book by its cover.

Grabbing their drinks, they continued their search for the perfect guy somewhere else. In the process of doing so, they couldn't help themselves and consciously passed the bar where Alec stood, still talking to the dark skinned girl. The taller of the two blonds, lightly bumped into him and made it look like an innocent accident. She gracefully twirled around, licked her lips and gave him a seductive smile. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz," she laughed and took a zip of her three-colored drink as she slowly walked backwards. A few drops of the sweetened drink was spilt on her hand and she slowly licked off the cold juice with her tongue. With bashing eyelids, she gazed at Alec, waiting for a reaction. This was her last chance. Next to her, her friend was grinning silently, admiring the game she was playing. They were both still walking backwards in a very, _very_ slow pace. Their bodies were practically begging him to follow.

"That's… alright," Alec stuttered and watched the blond lick the few drops off her hand. Her blue eyes were pinned at him, secretly telling him the things she and her friend wanted to do to him. Before he got to eye her some kind of answer, he felt his body turn around, away from the two girls and back to Original Cindy.

O.C gave Alec a puzzled look and then glanced over at the two very hot blonds he'd just turned down. Heck, if the two honeys had been into girls, O.C would have gladly made a move on them. She watched them walk away, clearly disappointed about the abrupt turn down. When facing Alec, he looked just as confused as her.

"Suga', you sure you okay?" she asked and placed her hand on his forehead. She was getting a bit worried now.

Alec didn't respond. Instead, he narrowed his eyes in the direction of pool tables. A comfortable scent caught his attention and his body instantly wanted to walk towards it, but he kept his feet grounded. It was no longer acceptable to feel like a stranger in his own body… but it was almost like something or someone was calling out for him. The smell, scent – whatever it was, it was sweet and honeyed – seductive, somehow. And it was slowly affecting his body in ways he couldn't explain. He felt a sudden need to burn off all the energy huddled up inside of him; like run 40 miles without stopping or challenge his deep diving skills, fight an army of Crash visitors, punch a whole in the nearest wall. Anything. But most of all he just wanted to inhale that sweet scent that seemed to call out for him.

Suddenly an unpleasant thought crossed his mind. Maybe it was a trick. Maybe someone was luring him into a deadly trap. It was highly possible. Nowadays, everything's possible. Some evil genius could probably mix up a delighted cocktail of irresistible scents that would attract him like bees to honey and before he'd know it, there'd be one less transgenic to worry about in the city of Seattle.

Honestly though, he doubted that that was it, but when you were a hunted transgenic, former super soldier, worth billions of dollars you could never be too careful. Something weird was going on and he didn't like it. He didn't like not knowing what it was. Not to mention the lack of control he had over his body. He'd unconsciously turned down two girls, what the hell was up with that?

"I think I should go," he muttered, giving Cindy a confused puppy-eyed look. He needed to get away. Far away, before he'd do something stupid.

"Hold up, hold up, pretty boy! Now you tell O.C what's wrong, before you go do somethin' stupid," Cindy preached, unaware of her mindreading skills.

Alec was about to give her a fake believable answer, but the interruption of Max made him forget his well-planned words. Out of nowhere she seemed to have popped up beside O.C, her smile all warm and welcoming, but when she turned her attention to him it immediately faded.

"Hey boo," O.C greeted and placed the pitcher at a table beside them. "I think yo' boy's sick—"

"I'm _not_ sick!" Alec interrupted his voice mad and commanding. He starred at his two friends with a surprised look on his face, ashamed of raising his voice at Cindy. A few people turned to look their way, curious about the sudden outburst.

"What's wrong?" Max asked and actually managed to sound a little worried.

"_Nothing_ is wrong, okay?"

"Then why are you all twitchy and jumpy?" she fired back, narrowing her accusingly brown eyes at him.

Alec just stared back at her, wondering if she could sense it too, that scent. She should be able to. They did share a lot of the same abilities. Enhanced senses, speed, strength, stamina, agility and believe it or not, a very high I.Q. – just to name a few.

But nothing indicated she could feel something was off. As always, Max was just her pissed-off self. She must have gotten pretty rusty, if her senses couldn't even pick up the slightest bit of that… scent. And now it was as strong as ever. It was right in front him, drowning him, teasing his skin and senses. He already felt addictive to it, somehow.

Ignoring his friends' confused stares, he walked past Max to search for whatever it was that made him act completely inappropriate. Lightly grabbing Max's arm to walk past her, he stopped and quickly pulled his hand close to his chest. He made the innocent touch look like it had burnt his fingers.

"Oh fuck," Alec whispered and froze. Now he knew. Now it all made sense and frankly, he almost preferred his former suspicion to be true instead. A deadly trap didn't sound so bad after all.

Max furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance and took a step towards him, ready to punch him if he as much as breathed wrong.

"Alec, what the hell's wrong with—"

"_Igottago_!"

Max tried grabbing his sleeve, but he avoided her by frantically walking backwards.

"Alec!"

"Stay away, Maxie," he said threateningly, emphasizing his point by raising his finger at her. A part of him actually found the intense situation a bit amusing and he unwillingly let a cocky smile escape from his lips. She wasn't even aware of it yet…

He saw Max noticing his arrogant smile and he wouldn't blame her for interpreting it as a mocking towards her. Old habits die hard.

Max bit the inside of her lip and clenched her fist. "You're such an idiot," she spat.

Alec ignored the comment. He was practically immune to Max's taunts. The only thing he needed to think about was how to get out and he needed to think fast. He needed to come up with some sort of escape plan. He needed to get away. Fast. He accomplished to think of at least 10 possible ways to get out of Crash, without making Max follow, but all the scenarios would result in a big mess and it was just not worth it.

"Just stay away," he whispered, making sure only Max's advanced hearing would pick it up. He tried his best to sound dead serious. Without drawing too much attention, he set off in a sprint towards the exit door, shoving a few people away in the process.

"What the hell is his problem?" Max wondered and turned to O.C.

"I dunno, boo, but I really think you should figure out what the hell he's strugglin' with. I'm tellin' ya, that boy wasn't himself. And knowin' how sneaky fast you peeps are, you betta' hurry." Original Cindy grabbed her pitcher and stared expectantly at her friend. She heard Max sigh and saw the frustration in her eyes.

A mix between curiosity, worry and annoyance filled Max's thoughts. She knew she didn't have enough time to consider what she needed to do. Follow the fool or stay with her friends at Crash? Annoyed, she gazed at the door where Alec just had fled through a few seconds ago. "I'm so gonna regret this," she muttered and ran before Cindy got to say goodbye.

* * *

A/N - Thank you for reading, and yes.. I changed up their cocktail a lil' bit. My story, my rules.


	2. Hide and seek

CHAPTER 2

* * *

It was such a shame that a beautiful city like Seattle had transformed into something so dark and grim. And it wasn't just Seattle, it was everywhere. Only a few places, a few cities had accomplished to preserve its beauty, but there weren't a lot of people who were allowed to experience the pleasure of living or even visiting those places. Unless you were an unbelievable important person or filthy rich, there was simply no way the average Joe would be granted access to the few well-functioning cities left in the many states of America.

Although, Alec hadn't seen or experienced how breathtaking some cities once were, he had seen pictures and videos of a world that once was in way better shape than it was now. He was actually glad he hadn't been there to experience it. Then he couldn't miss it.

Stopping at the corner of a building, he looked back and hoped Max hadn't followed him. Crash was long out of sight and the only thing surrounding him were a bunch of old worn-down buildings. Some of them had the lights turned on, but most of the mucky windows looked dark and abandoned. It was late too. Most people were probably lying in their somewhat comfortable beds and sleeping peacefully.

He kicked some trash away from his path as he walked past more apartment buildings. The asphalt was still wet from the constant raining, but luckily it had stopped a few hours ago. Rain really wasn't his thing, never had been. The smell of moist filled the air and it felt good to inhale some fresh oxygen. He took one deep breath and closed his eyes to fully enjoy the moment. Thankfully, his body was back to normal. No more unexplainable scents around to mess with his senses. He shortly laughed at himself when thinking of Max and the way they'd parted. What a scene. She really had no idea what was going on. In a couple of more hours, though – then she'd definitely know. Poor Max… he didn't envy her _at all_.

Without any sort of solid plan about where he'd go, he took off and ran. He didn't want to return to his apartment just yet. He needed to go somewhere peaceful. Somewhere far away. He just hoped Max had taken his advice and stayed at Crash, but he doubted she had been that crazy. He knew her too well. She was curious, furious and she probably wanted answers. Besides, the chance of Max listening to him was just not possible. If she decided to try and hunt him down, he did his best to make the pursuit more difficult for her. For the normal human being he had long ago managed to get to the stage of untraceable, but he and Max were far from normal… they were both highly trained soldiers, genetically empowered, capable of killing without breaking a sweat – the perfect warriors. And that made their little game of hide and seek a bit more complicated.

Alec silently slowed his pace and jumped onto an old parked truck. There were no people around at this hour and the place was already known for its deserted alleys. Out of habit he still moved with stealth and cautiousness, noticing everything and taking in every scene and corner.

As he reached his destination, he cautiously turned around and sighed in relief. He was completely alone. With that in mind, he gracefully climbed up a buildings fire escape and ended on the roof. There wasn't even a trace of exhaustion in his steady breathing.

Standing on top of a small seven-storey building made him feel surprisingly relaxed. Heights weren't his favorite thing, but he didn't mind it either, nor did he fear it. He just liked the serenity of being alone. He carefully stepped up on the edge of the building and glanced down at the small alleys beneath him. If he slipped it was going to be one hell of nasty fall, but luckily he wasn't clumsy. He quickly switched view and saw the city before him.

It was unbelievable beautiful.

He suddenly understood why Max spent a lot of time on the 605 feet tall Space Needle. All of Seattle's filth disappeared in the much bigger picture. Darkness drowned its true appearance while thrilling and flickering lights covered its large buildings. The city actually looked more alive at night than it did when most of its citizens were awake and not sleeping like they were now.

He slowly ran his hand through his spiky ash-blond hair and scratched the back of his neck in frustration. A light breeze caressed his skin and he gladly inhaled the fresh air that traveled along with it.

_Dammit Max__ie…_

He sighed and watched the small invisible cloud he made with the air he exhaled.

"I thought I told you to stay away," he complained. He didn't even bother to turn around. His eyes traveled down the building's fire escape and the old truck that stood parked beneath his feet. With big chubby and once-colored letters, it spelled _Fruity Fruits_ on top of its lorry.

"And since when do I do what I'm told?" Max answered and took a few steps sideways. It bothered her that she couldn't see his face. His dark shadow almost touched hers, though they were standing more than a good 100 feet apart from each other. She carefully looked around at the abandoned place and then back at Alec. "You're not going to jump, are you?" she asked and furrowed her eyebrows at the thought.

Alec smiled at her sudden question and shook his head in disgust. He wasn't anything near suicidal. He slowly turned around to face her and carefully took one step down from the edge as a way of answering her question. "Would you miss me, if I did?" he asked teasingly, spreading both arms to his sides and nodding towards the spot he'd just bounced down from.

"It would be the happiest day of my life," Max lied.

"Bitch," Alec stated and sent her a sarcastic smile.

"Jerk," she muttered silently.

Alec mimicked Max's step by walking backwards when she walked towards him and right when she walked left. Still, she was slowly getting closer to him. He could smell it already. Her scent of Pheromones. For now, the wind was on his side, but it would only be the matter of time before he would no longer have any real control over his body.

"What's wrong with you?" Max hissed and silently took five quick steps towards him.

He immediately backed away and threw his hands up in surrender. "Wow, hey! Back off, Maxie!" He continued to walk close against the buildings waist high wall. "Trust me, for your sake, don't come any closer. I'm serious. Hell, I'm begging you."

"Why? What's gonna happen?" she wondered and threateningly took one more step towards him.

Alec inwardly growled in frustration. She was really starting to piss him off. Why couldn't she just have listened to him and stayed away? Was it really that hard? He avoided looking at her intensive brown eyes and stared up at the black star-filled sky instead. There was a full moon hiding beneath some small grey clouds and shimmering stars. How ironic, considering he had a good deal of wolf DNA encoded in his genes. He was even an alpha male. Always had been, always will be. Even if he tried to forget the fact.

The wind suddenly settled and left him a little panicked, but the feeling only lasted a split second. He looked over at Max, who still stood opposite him, waiting for him to give her some sort of answer. She had a fierce look in her eyes and her stiff body seemed to be prepared to take him down if he tried something unexpected. Hell, if she wanted a fight, he'd sure as hell give her one. But first he would have to explain what was going on. She deserved that much. That is, if she'd let him.

No longer as stiff as before, Max slowly started walking towards him, her body all calm and relaxed, like she didn't have a care in the world. She was mocking him, completely ignoring his former warning.

Chicks! They just never listened, did they?

"Just cut the crap, Alec, and tell me what the hell's going on!" she hissed and stopped. She reminded herself to keep a safe distance. With Alec, you could never be too careful. He could be unpredictable. Dangerous. She had experienced it first hand, but she honestly that believed he had changed. Deep down, she knew he was a good guy, but he also had a dark side that he struggled to keep hidden. Behind that charmingly sly smirk and wiseass attitude, he concealed a hollow place of nothing. A place where it's dark and painful, just like Manticore. She feared that that was what she was facing now. _Manticore-Alec_, and not that cocky man-slut she loved to hate.

"Alec?" she called, tilting her head curiously at him. She had never experienced him being that awfully quit before. Usually, he talked non-stop and it was almost impossible to make him shut up when he first got started. The silence actually made her uncomfortable, but she showed no signs of her uneasiness. In fact, she radiated of the complete opposite.

Alec seemed to have been in a slight trance or dream state. When he looked up, his eyes were dark and narrowed, but suddenly he smiled and cocked his head to his side.

"So you wanna know what's going on?" he whispered huskily and moved closer towards her. That last shred of his common sense begged him to stop, but he didn't obey.

Max only nodded and took a few steps back. She instantly regretted giving Alec the satisfaction of seeing her be unsure of herself, but there was something intensely intimidating about him that made her uncomfortable, yet curious at the same time. She quickly scanned the roof for emergency exits and memorized every corner and structure of the building. There was a small shed-looking building that led down to the main floors, not far from where she was standing. She didn't like having her back to the fragile structure when Alec was in front of her. It made her feel cornered, but she reminded herself it was Alec she was up against. She could take Alec. She'd done it before and she could do it again.

Alec noticed her small retreat and shortly laughed amusingly to himself. "Oh, c'mon Maxie, I don't bite," he teased.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?" she demanded to know. She refused to make the same mistake twice so she stood completely still as she watched Alec slowly stroll back and forth. She was prepared to fight him if he as much as tried to lay a hand on her. Their eyes were locked on each other like two predators, preparing for a fight over their lost territory. It was the silence before the storm.

"You really don't know?" he asked and slowly approached her.

She didn't flinch or take a step back. Instead, she made that famous if-looks-could-kill look and shot her hip to her side.

Alec gritted his teeth. God, she looked hot when she was pissed. He wanted to touch her so bad. Feel her soft skin against his. Make her his and his only. He shortly wondered if his skin would burn, if he touched her.

"No Alec, I don't know. Why do you think I—?"

Suddenly Max found herself unwillingly pinned up against the wall of the shed building, frantically fighting to get free from Alec's grip, but he refused to let her go. He aggressively grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her inches away from the wall, only to smash her back into it with a powerful push.

Max felt the air in her lungs leave and heard the dreadful sound of bone crushing behind her back. It took her a few seconds to catch her breath, but she wasted no time and kneed Alec in the crotch. Unfortunately, he caught the side of her leg before she succeeded in completely destroying his manhood, but she still managed to cause a little damage. He instantly let go of her, coughing in surprise. With his hands protectively covering his crotch, he staggered a few steps back and laughed silently.

"_That_… wasn't fair," he complained and straightened, sounding a bit out of breath. The pain slowly started to subside. For a short moment he could actually think clearly, but before he got a word out he had to block Max from repeating the dangerously knee-maneuver at him again.

When none of them dared pausing for an explanation, their fight quickly continued. Max was fueled by anger and she kept sending kicks and clenched fists towards Alec who mostly blocked all of her attacks. A part of him couldn't get himself to hit her. He'd already been too close to breaking a few of her bones when smashing her relentlessly up against the hard wall. That was something he wanted to avoid doing again.

Max on the other hand just hated the fact that he held back. Just seconds ago he'd been threatening and unpredictable, a shadow of his former self, but now he was blocking her blows, pushing her away without returning her punches. She quickly spun around to gain speed and sent her leg flying towards his shoulder, and this time he didn't counter her swift move. He almost fell to the ground, but before hitting the wet concrete, he managed to find his way back to a fighting position.

They both took a minute to look at each other. Alec quickly glanced to his side and drew an invisible circle with his shoulder. The simple movement hurt like hell and he reluctantly let an aggravated expression show on his face, which only seemed to satisfy his opponent tremendously.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" she snorted.

He nodded sarcastically. "Like a bitch."

The next second happened in a flash.

Maybe, for a split second, Max had let her guard down, or maybe Alec was just unbelievable fast. She knew for a fact she hadn't let her guard down. She never let her guard down, which meant Alec must have moved at the speed of light or something very close to it. For the second time he surprised her with such great speed, she almost found herself admiring him. And once again she was pinned between the shed-looking building and her worthy opponent. Although this time she had her back against Alec and her face against the cold brick wall.

She almost preferred it the other way around.

Alec locked her arms behind her back. He knew the maneuver hurt, but he wouldn't risk having her knee jammed up his most precious possessions… again.

"Sorry kitten… safety precautions," he explained huskily.

"Let me go, Alec! I swear to God I'll castrate you if you don't!"

"I'd like to see you try," he challenged and shoved her further into the wall.

Max moaned complainingly and realized right then that Alec was a lot stronger than her. That was definitely not a good thing.

Closing his eyes, Alec tried not to inhale the air that didn't contain the smell of Max, but her scent was everywhere. He shivered lightly and growled. Their awkward position only made matters worse. If she only knew the affect she had on him. She was intoxicating him and she wasn't even aware of it. Her long dark hair toyed lightly with the wind and sent a perfume of sweet fruits his way. Either she showered with a load of apples and strawberries or maybe she just ate a ton of fruits to make her smell that way naturally. Either way, she smelled pretty damn good.

His prediction about if his hands would burn if he touched her skin, was put to rest when he brushed her hair away from her neck. It didn't burn, but it did do something to him. The soft touch was almost electrical and he felt Max shudder from the simple caress. Her caramel skin was already beginning to get steaming hot, which meant she soon would pass stage two and that was when it would begin to get dangerous. That was when they'd both act on pure instincts and not give a damn about the consequences of their actions.

Alec snarled aggressively at himself and forced himself to move away from her, but his body didn't obey. He tried one more time and managed to let go of her arms.

At first, none of them moved. Max who'd been twisting and turning, trying to get free, suddenly didn't like the feeling of freedom. Her body stiffened and she could hardly get herself to turn around to face her attacker. He was still right behind her, invading her personal space. As she finally turned around, he slowly traced up the building's wall for support, partly trapping her in an unwanted embrace.

She was met by an icy green stare that either begged her to stay close to him or told her to run away as fast as possible. She chose not to move.

"What… Alec, what's going on?" she whispered, sounding very insecure.

Alec had never heard or seen her act like that before. He uttered a short, bitter laugh and dumbly lowered his head to stare at the wet concrete floor. "With a high I.Q. like yours, I thought you would have figured it out already," he answered and carefully placed a hand on her neck.

Max flinched at the touch and frowned when she realized she hadn't even tried to stop him. A strange cold and calming sensation suddenly covered her throat and she reluctantly found herself leaning into his touch. It felt so soothing and nice. Her body felt burning hot and his cool hand was like a touch of bliss.

"Think about it, Maxie… your body temperature is normally the same as mine…"

Suddenly Max eyes widened and she immediately cringed as she put two and two together. "No! I'm… I- I- I––"

"You're in heat," he finished lamely.

Max flinched as if the word had caused her physical pain. Suddenly her head was filled with emotions and questionable thoughts. She needed to get away. Lock herself inside her room for the next two days and take lots of cold showers to keep her body temperature bearable.

All this time, she'd had absolutely no idea she had been in an early stage of heat. Normally, she would first know when it got really bad and she began flirting with every doable person who belonged to the three-legged species. Alec must have known since they met at Crash… she'd never known it affected other transgenics. But then again, she'd never been around one before during those few times a year she was in heat.

Her heart began racing, her breathing began to quicken and her body felt like it had been set on fire. She quickly pushed herself away from the wall, only to bump into Alec. He swiftly grabbed a hold of her shoulders and steadied her in front of him. Cautiously, her hands carefully traveled all the way up his stomach and ended firmly on his chest. At first, the gesture was meant to push him away, but suddenly that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"This is not good," she said and shook her head.

"Tell me about it," Alec growled complainingly. He shifted his bodyweight from one leg to another. When he looked down at Max she was staring at her hands on his chest. She slowly let her hands fall further down until the growling sound from Alec made her hesitate. Catching his eye, she merely whimpered in response and grabbed the soft fabric of his shirt. And the Max Alec knew was suddenly gone. Instead she was replaced with a girl who seductively tugged him back to the place where he shortly had kept her captive. Acting purely on instinct, his hand found his way to the back of her neck and she aggressively pulled him closer to her. His other arm traveled down to her waist where he gracefully snuck a hand under her jacket. She moaned silently when his fingers touched her warm skin. It felt like he absorbed all her heat in one place and then spread it right back all over her body when he broke the touch.

Max passionately tilted her head back and exposed her vulnerable neck at him, while her nails consciously dug into his barcode. Growling, he just thrusted her harder into the wall. His heavy breath touched the side of her neck and he had to struggle to keep him from biting her. Instead he softly kissed her hot skin, eagerly inhaling her addictive scent. He moved on, playfully nibbling her earlobe and when he got to her cheek he caught the look of yearn in Max eyes. She batted her eyelids at him and lightly bumped her waist into his.

Alec let a childish laugh escape from the corner of his mouth while threateningly moving closer to her. Taking her hands in his, he led her fingers trail up to the back of his neck, while he positioned his own on her hips. Their bodies seemed to fit perfectly together.

Maybe those four glasses of scotch finally came back to haunt him. He suddenly felt a comfortable wave of dizziness flush by him. His vision darkened and it took him a while to comprehend the situation. He had closed his eyes as a result of feeling Max close to him. Her lips had touched his and he felt a warm teasingly sensation play with the tip of his tongue. His legs were about to give up under him, but he quickly grabbed the wall behind Max for support and responded by aggressively kissing her back. She tasted just like the way she smelled.

Sweet… so wonderfully sweet.

He desperately started fumbling with the zipper of her jacket as he tried to get her out of her clothes. When it didn't function the way he wanted it to he ripped the fabric apart. Their kiss shortly ended when Max let out a surprised sigh and saw her jacket was torn open. Before Max could snap back to reality and realize what they were doing Alec quickly resumed their make-out session. His primal instincts commanded him to continue and he wouldn't stop until he'd made her his. Max even seemed to want the same thing. Her hands gripped the end of his sweatshirt and she wasted no time trying to get it off of him. As he kept trailing hungry kisses over her smooth skin, Max blindly tossed his shirt over the buildings edge.

"_Alec_," she purred and pulled him closer. She wanted to feel his bare skin, but she still needed to peal the last layer of clothes off him. He was still wearing a thin grey t-shirt that reminded her too much of Manticore's old dress code, but it would only be the matter of time before she'd get that off him.

Her hands easily snuck their way underneath his t-shirt, where she fiercely dug her nails into his abs. His stomach contracted in response while he playfully shoved her away. Max bit her upper lip and waited for him to make a move. She could smell his arousal mixed with testosterone and she loved the affect she had on him. She loved his scent. It was so… _male_.

Alec groaned silently and walked back to his prey. He shortly took advantage of his height and stared condescendingly down at Max as a way to tell her he was the one in control. Maybe it was the alpha male in him that wanted to dominate her, or maybe he just needed to show her he was the better transgenic. He'd always been better, stronger and faster than her, but he had never let it show. That strength was something he kept hidden next to nothing, pain and darkness. But it was still there, hidden deep inside him.

He carefully placed his index finger on her chin and slightly tilted her head up, forcing Max to tiptoe his way. They shortly exchanged looks of want and need, before softly kissing each other. This time it was far from aggressive, just soft and full of passion – the way loving couples kissed.

But they were far from a couple.

They were far from in love.

Max finally realized what she was doing and even though it felt so amazingly good, she remembered how wrong it was. She suddenly slapped the side of his face and reluctantly shoved him away. The loud smack echoed through the small alleys and she instantly regretted hitting him.

Her eyes were wide and confused when she glanced over at Alec. He looked both mad and surprised… which was fully understandable.

"What the hell, Max?" he cursed and touched his burning cheek. He then looked at his hand as if he believed he would find traces of blood smeared all over his fingers. Luckily, it only hurt like hell.

"I'm… sorry, I––"

"You what!" he questioned crossly. For a second, he wanted to resume their violent fight, but he managed to hold back that dangerous feeling.

The look of complete confusion covered Max's face. Then realization hit her. "This is wrong! This _isn't_ me, Alec! _This_," she pointed at her chest and then at him. "This is all Manticore."

"This is who we are, Maxie! We can't change that."

"That doesn't make this okay! I'm in heat! And we're acting like crazed animals because of it," she hissed and leaned her back against the cold building. Her body was still steaming hot and screaming for Alec to come ravage her while another part of her was deeply disgusted by her inappropriate thoughts. "This is just so wrong."

Alec's maddened look suddenly changed into a smug grin. "Well, I didn't hear you complaining—"

"_Don't_!" She threateningly raised a finger at him and restlessly began pacing back and forth, ignoring the memory of Alec's hands on her waist, her back, her neck, everywhere. He was what she needed; there was no doubt about it. It felt like she needed him just as much as she needed air to breathe. But it wasn't real. Her feelings were simply the result of her heat. No mater how much she longed for his touch, it was all fake.

Alec scratched the back of his neck and sighed. He felt a cool breeze touch his bare arms, which shortly reminded him about his missing shirt. He made a chewing emotion with his mouth and carefully touched his left cheek while giving Max an angry stare, but it quickly softened when he realized he probably had deserved it. They both knew that if one of them didn't take off soon, they'd be right back at exchanging bodily fluids and that would just be so... wrong.

"I should… leave," Max whispered and cautiously started walking backwards. It was a struggle to get her legs to move. She only managed to take five steps, before she stopped and questioned her own words. Her eyes hungrily examined Alec's tensed body. She gave him an obvious elevator glance which he quickly returned. He was literally perfect. They were all designed to be perfect, but Alec seemed to have surpassed perfection. Just the way he stood radiated pure confidence and power.

She vaguely remembered that his twin brother Ben had a Beta, and she'd naturally assumed Alec was too, but now she knew just how wrong she'd been – Alec was all Alpha. And now that she thought about it, she'd been stupid to think otherwise. They'd after all been paired up as breeding partners once, because of their genetic code being a perfect match. Two Alpha's with a flawless animal cocktail equals one hell of a Manticore soldier.

Luckily though, Max had escaped before she had been forced pregnant.

"You can't leave…" Alec said suddenly. He casually strolled closer to her. "You don't _want_ to leave…"

"This is wrong, Alec. We're not ourselves."

Alec noticed how her breathing suddenly became heavier. He curiously tested his luck by touching the side of her neck, and Max surprisingly remained frozen in place, completely dumbfounded and hypnotized by his presence. Ignoring his common sense, he leaned in closer and planted a careful kiss on her neck. "Does it feel wrong?" he whispered seductively.

A voice in his head was yelling at him, telling him to _get the fuck away _and_ runaway you sonofabitch, RUN_. But he hard a hard time following his own orders. He could see Max was having the same kind of inner fight inside her head. He searched her big brown eyes for some kind of answer, but instead she leaned towards him and the next thing he felt was her soft lips against his. He expertly slid off her jacket and dropped it on the ground. His hands clenched the soft fabric of her thin black tank top. All he wanted was to tear it apart, but he suppressed his urges and cockily grabbed her ass instead. In response she only bit his lower lip and laughed childishly at his threatening growls.

Suddenly, he could taste the metallic flavor of blood on his tongue, but before he traced its exact origin, Max licked the side of his lip and glanced seductively at him, then placed two fingers on her lip and slowly wiped the remaining blood away, only to lick it off her own finger. _His_ blood. She'd just licked his blood off her finger. That was definitely a picture that would be imprinted in his mind forever. Not even his dirty magazines could compete with that. _Nothing_ could compete with that. He almost attacked her when their lips met again. The taste of his own blood coming from Max made his head spin.

"God, Maxie," he whispered as he tried to find a reason to stop himself from kissing her.

Her thin, petite figure kept teasing his body which affected his downstairs brain more than he thought possible. If she didn't do anything about it soon, he'd probably end up with an everlasting hard on. Her hands carefully found their way down to his waistband, but before she got to unbutton his jeans, Alec suddenly broke their kiss and grabbed her wrists violently.

His common sense suddenly reminded him what was at stake.

"Max!" he yelled panicky.

Max dizzily opened her eyes and frowned, not understanding what just had happened. "What?"

"You're right, I'm sorry! You gotta knock me out!"

"_What_?" she snorted, looking completely confused.

Alec fiercely cupped her face in his hands and gave her a serious stare, hoping he'd find the real Max looking back at him. She was still in there somewhere. "You said it yourself. This is wrong. _This _is _wrong_… right?"

Max shook her head and clenched her eyes shut… it was all a bad dream, she tried to tell herself. But when she opened her eyes again, Alec was still right in front of her, his sharp green eyes looking at her or through her, she couldn't tell.

"Look, it's simple… just knock me out. Punch me. You _have_ to do this!"

"No, I can't—"

"Knock me out or I'll knock you up," he yelled angrily.

"What?"

"You're in heat, Maxie. We're both X5's. Two more minutes and we won't be able to stop ourselves from… doing something we really shouldn't. There's a 99,9 percent chance that I'll get your pregnant and we're not exactly capable of being parents, so just… just do it."

Max shook her head and tremblingly started to back away from him, but he quickly grabbed her arm and positioned her in front him. "I'll be fine, okay? Just knock me out, run away, don't look back and lock every door and window when you get home," he explained calmly.

"No, you can just… let me go now and I'll run home and you'll––"

Alec reluctantly inhaled her scent again. He almost lost his control again. "You don't understand, Maxie! I'll follow you, so just fucking do it before I change my mind!"

"I can't… I don't want––"

"You've never had a problem with it before! You wanna switch, is that it?"

"No! I mean… that's not what I meant."

He took a threateningly step towards her and narrowed his eyes at her. There was one way he could get her to knock him out and it was surprisingly simple. "You want me that bad, huh Maxie? Just say the word and I'll fuck you right here, right now. And when you're yourself again, you can blame me for screwing everything up, right? Oh, and good luck explaining that to Logan. But then again, you could always blame me for taking advantage of you or come up with some other sick excuse, I don't really care!"

Max closed her eyes, hoping that he'd shut up, but he only paused for a second.

"What's it gonna be, Maxie?" He shoved her away, but followed her retreat, only to push her again. He wanted to corner her. It was the only way, she'd come back to her senses. "It's simple, isn't it? I want you, you want me. Forget Logan. Fuck Logan! You two aren't _like that_, anyway, isn't that right? So whaddaya say? Just a one night stand, right? Harmless. Hell, I've always wondered how it'd be to try you out in the sac, anyway."

She lunged at him, but Alec swiftly caught her fist in his hand and pushed her away. From the second she'd lifted her hand, he'd known the punch wouldn't have been enough to knock him out. Quickly, he grabbed the back of her neck and aggressively pulled her into his chest, not caring if he hurt her or not. He knotted his hand into a fist, tangling her hair between his fingers. They stood cheek to cheek, for what felt like a minute, but only lasted a second. Then suddenly Alec chuckled and threateningly whispered, "I'd rather fuck the sluts at the Blowfish than you, you bitch—"

…and then everything blackened.

Max hadn't even noticed her arm had moved, until she had felt her knuckles collide with Alec's face. Horrified, she watched his body fall to the ground. He landed roughly on his back with a loud thud that made her body cringe.

His threatening plea didn't even make her feel less guilty.

"Sorry… I'm… so sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes to avoid the view in front of her. She turned around to find her jacket lying on the ground, lightly covered in dirt. Hurrying, she got the torn piece of clothes on her and scanned the place for an easy way out. The closest neighbor building was lower and looked to have a stabile gutter she could use as a latter. She needed to escape fast and the gutter seemed to be a perfect solution for a quick getaway. Before leaving the place, she couldn't help herself and went against the advice Alec had given her – _don't look back_.

She quickly glanced over her shoulder and saw him lying peacefully on the ground. His voice still echoed in the back of her mind. All the things he'd said to make her mad.

It had worked on her, though. He'd pissed her off and now… now he was lying on the dirty floor, unconscious and she had to leave him as fast as possible, before he'd wake up.

He'd wake up. Quickly. She had to remind herself of that when she saw his still body lying there, just like Ben's lifeless body had. But Alec would wake up, she repeated to herself… Alec was always alright.

"Thanks," she whispered sincerely and took off in a hurry.

* * *

A/N - Hope ya'll enjoyed it. Reviews are very much appreciated, btw :)


	3. Abandoned

CHAPTER 3

* * *

The small two-room apartment almost shattered, when the door slammed and Max's heavy footsteps paced directly into the bathroom where Cindy stood over the sink, a toothbrush hanging loosely halfway out of her mouth. Before she could get a word out, Max frantically started undressing and turned the shower on. She didn't care that Cindy was still in there with her. It was actually comfortable knowing her friend was there, close by. Strangely enough, the last thing she wanted was to be left alone.

"Boo, what's wrong? What happened?" Cindy asked worried. She quickly searched Max's body for blood or bruises – anything that could indicate that she'd actually killed Alec or just had had some kind of disagreement with him, which usually always resulted in a fist fight.

It was almost unnoticeable, but she had a few red marks on her back. Luckily, there weren't any traces of blood on her clothes and besides the red marks she seemed to be bruise-free. She actually looked fine, but she sure as hell didn't act _fine_. Something was wrong and something strange had happened since she'd left Crash an hour ago.

With a terrified look on her face, Max closed the almost see-through shower curtain and reluctantly ducked under the cold water. She desperately wanted to wash all the traces of Alec off her body. She could still smell his scent on her skin… that strong male scent.

"Max, tell O.C. what happened," Cindy whispered carefully and secretly prayed to God that Alec was still alive. Sure, the guy could be a jerk at times, but he was still one of the good guys. "Boo, is Alec aight?"

Max paused dramatically and hoped the cold water would wash her guilt off too. But sadly, it was only wishful thinking. For some odd reason she felt terrible guilty about knocking Alec out, but she tried comforting herself by thinking that it had been the right thing to do. And most importantly Alec had been the one to insist she should do it. He'd been the reasonable one. How fucked up was that?

"He's… alright," Max stuttered and drowned her face in the icy beams of water.

"What happened?" Cindy asked and crossed her arms over her chest. She positioned herself right next to the shower curtain and leaned her shoulder against a thin wall. A few drops of water landed on her arm. "And why' you bathin' in freezin' cold water?"

Max sighed loudly. It almost sounded like a cry. "Cin… I…" she paused hesitantly. "I'm in heat," she finally answered, her voice shy and vulnerable.

Suddenly, Original Cindy's eyes widened in surprise and realization. She knew how Max got when she was in heat. One particular memory reluctantly popped up in her head as she remembered the dreadful day where Max had almost jumped their boss back at Jam Pony. And Normal was just not a jumpable guy, unless you were blind and straight up desperate. Cindy didn't know a whole lot about Max's heat cycles, besides the fact that it made her friend long for sex like she was some horny little male rabbit on Viagra and… oh lord, Max had pursued Alec in that condition. _Alec._

Cindy wrinkled her nose, puzzled. "So dat's why he acted—"

"Yeah."

Now that was new information for the both of them. Not even Max had known that her fellow transgenics were able to smell when someone's in heat. How awkward. But it kind of made sense, though. They'd both seen their fair share of Animal planet and it had turned out to be quite an educational channel.

Shifting uncomfortable, Cindy scratched her left arm and forced her goosebumbs gone, but the tiny cold drops that escaped from the shower still made her teeth clatter. How Max could bear to stand in there without complaining or worrying about hyperthermia was somewhat astonishing. She couldn't help but wonder what might have happened between Max and Alec since the two of them had sprinted out of Crash, but she didn't feel like bombarding her friend with those questions yet.

"You seemed perfectly fine at crash, though," Cindy stated as she tried to make sense of it all. Heat-Max was just something that wouldn't go unnoticed, because it wasn't everyday you got to see a cheerful flirtatious Max mentally undress twenty guys at the same time – she would practically have the word _horny_ written all over her body. And the last time Cindy had seen Max at Crash, she'd seemed fine. By 'fine', meaning not-horny.

"I guess I was in an early stage then. And he knew—" Max swallowed her own words. "I wasn't even aware that I was…" she paused again, wondering if maybe it was all just a silly dream.

Frustrated and confused, she shook her head. This was real. All of it. She could feel the water escape down her small slim figure, feel every beam touch her forehead as the cold liquid caressed her skin, feel Cindy's comfortable presence in the small room. She could feel everything. It was real. God, it wasn't a dream. It wasn't even a nightmare… which meant she'd actually made out with Alec. And the worst and most disgusting part of it all was that it had felt amazingly good.

Just remembering the way he'd touched her made her feel completely electric again. No one – _no one _– had ever made her feel like that and that was actually what scared her the most. He was the only thing on her mind and that was just wrong on so many levels.

"_Blame the heat_," she thought to herself. Heat makes you do crazy things. _Crazy_!

Then she remembered punching Alec unconscious and for some reason the memory made her want to throw up. She clenched her fist, angrily gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as she tried to ignore the image of his still form laying abandoned on top of some random building.

She'd just left him like that. Left him, the same way that she'd left Ben. The only difference had been the setting and the fact that Alec had been alive when she'd turned her back on him and disappeared into the night.

_Alive__ – _that was the keyword_. _Alec did not share the same fate as his unfortunate identical twin brother, because, really, Alec was _always_ alright. Always. He wasn't anything like Ben. They might have looked exactly alike, but they were so very, very different.

Max splashed some more cold water in her face and rubbed her itching eyes. She kept reliving the same painful memory over and over again. Not a single detail was left out.

Like she'd ever be able to forget that day she'd killed Ben.

Luckily Cindy's presence helped her snap back to reality and she suddenly blurted out her confession. "I knocked him out, Cin."

Cindy arched an eyebrow. "You what?"

"I knocked Alec out," Max repeated, ashamed. "He asked me to do it… to keep us from, y'know…"

Max wanted her thoughts and guilt to disappear down the drain along with the cold running water, but the images of Alec still haunted her. She couldn't get the picture of him laying unconscious on the dirty ground out of her head. She couldn't stop worrying about him and worrying about Alec was a very rare feeling.

"But he's aight?" Cindy asked calmly.

"I had to run away before he'd wake up. But… he's Alec, right? He's always alright."

"Of course he is," Cindy exclaimed, using a confident tone. "Besides, hot boy need a good punch in the head every once in a while. You did him a favor, Boo."

Max couldn't help it but laugh. It was short and almost soundless, but it was still a laugh Cindy noticed. A rare, but adorably contagious sound. She definitely needed to do it more often.

"So he actually asked you to punch him, huh?" Cindy asked with a confused look on her face. Again, she heard a small giggle coming from the shower, but it was mixed together with a loud sigh.

"Yeah. For the first time ever, he was actually being the reasonable one," Max admitted. She licked the side of her lip and immediately recognized the taste of Alec's blood in her mouth. Images, flashes of what had happened only 30 minutes ago went through her head. Again. Her body suddenly felt warm, even when cold water was covering every inch of her naked skin. God, she hated being in heat. She absolutely despised what it did to her. The lack of control she had over her body and thoughts was unbearable. Not to mention the feeling of being a complete horndog for 2 days straight and not having the right _tools_ to do something about it.

One-night stands were simply out of the question. Nothing good ever came out of it. In the end, the result was always the same. She would just end up hating herself and regretting it as soon as her heat settled.

"Let me get dis straight. The two of you were about to get down and dirty 'cause yo' heat dealio turns both of you into horny bunnies… and then all of the sudden, he asks you to knock him out?"

"That pretty much covers it, yeah," Max answered bluntly, realizing she'd more or less been turned down by the Casanova himself.

Was she feeling a little insulted and disappointed? Hell no! _Hell… _no! But then she remembered why he had stopped them from "gettin' busy" (as Joshua so politely loves describe it). Alec was an X5 and she was an X5 _in heat_ and that's apparently not a good thing, unless they wanted to explore the world of parenthood.

"So Alec _is_ capable of bein' chivalrous," Cindy proclaimed, nodding.

Max shrugged lightly and decided not to elaborate on why Alec probably did what he did. Chivalrous? No. Reasonable? Yes. Big difference.

"I hate this," Max sobbed and lowered her head.

"I know, boo… I know," Cindy said soothingly.

The water was pouring down her face as she spit out the last taste of Alec. Her body started shaking as the result of showering in freezing cold water. It was finally getting to her and it felt surprisingly good. Cold, but good.

"Now get outta there and get dry. I'll go make us somethin' to drink, aight?"

Max nodded and shrugged. Her body still felt extremely tense. It felt like she had a big knot inside her stomach and there was just no use in untying it. Drowning her face in the water for the last time, she reluctantly managed to turn the shower off.

"I'll take dat as a yes," Cindy assumed and hung Max's towel next to the shower curtain. "You want some milk?" she asked as she left the bathroom to search their kitchen for something eatable.

The last time Max had been in heat and Cindy successfully had managed to keep her locked in their apartment, they'd spent a whole night talking about everything from funny-dates-gone-wrong to Manticore-sucks-ass while they'd both been sitting with their different suitable drink and cookies – Max with her cold glass of milk and Cindy with her big mug of hot coffee. Unlike her transgenic friend, Cindy didn't have shark DNA encoded in her genes, but fortunately coffee did have a temporarily shark affect on Ordinaries.

Max swiftly gathered her silky locks in one hand and twisted the water out in a twirling emotion. "Milk sounds good," she whispered gratefully and grabbed the towel Cindy had placed out for her. Wrapping her body into the soft fabric, she carefully stepped out of the shower and found her way over to the doorframe where she watched Cindy standing in front of refrigerator with a milk carton in her left hand and a bag of coffee powder wrapped tightly around her right. It was time for what they now could begin to call their heat ritual: that meant they'd spent a whole night chilling, having fun, talking and enjoying each others company.

Sure, Max would have to go take some cold showers every now and she would feel frustrated and angry for not being able to just go out and grab the first guy she would lay her eyes on, but she had Cindy right there with her to keep her calm and to keep her from not doing anything she would later regret. Most importantly, she had Cindy there to make her smile.

"Hey Cin?" Max called and smiled when Cindy turned to look at her.

"Wassup suga'?"

"Thanks. You know… for everything."

Cindy closed the refrigerator with a light shove from her elbow and placed the milk on the kitchen table. She was wearing her favorite pajamas outfit; a baggy pair of blue pants with a weird pattern on it. It looked like little dancing bananas. Her top was tight and probably a size too small, but it matched her chocolate colored skin perfectly. She sent Max a warm smile and tied her big curly hair into a loose knot. "No problem, Boo, I'm always there for you, aight? You remember dat," Cindy answered wisely, pointing her preaching finger at her roommate, her friend, her sista' from anotha' mista'. "Now let's get dis pajamas party started, shall we?"

Max smiled and shook her head in gratitude. There was and will always be only _one_ Original Cindy and she was really something special.

* * *

"Sonofa _motherfuckin'_ bitch!" Alec groaned and placed a hand on his pained left temple. Luckily, there were no blood, just pure wrenching pain and soreness. He appreciated being hit a place where it wasn't visible. If Max had gone for the face, he would have found a way – unconscious or not – to quickly return the favor.

But the girl sure packed a mean punch. It took him a few seconds to remember why the hell he was lying on his back, seeing nothing but a dark sky decorated with lots of shiny stars and a big round moon.

Due to the constant dizziness and seeing a lot of buildings spin around him, he aggressively rolled onto his side and got up in an ungracefully manner. Staggering lightly he brushed the dirt of his shirt and tried getting his mind back in the game. Slowly, his eyesight steadied, his legs found firm ground and he managed to walk straight without looking like a mean drunk. The pain, however still coming from his left temple, had yet disappeared but at least it was getting more bearable. Had he been a normal human being and not a manufactured genetically empowered killing machine, he might have needed help from a team of expert doctors to keep him alive, if the punch alone hadn't already killed him the second Max's fist had collided with his skull.

"Max," he suddenly whispered turning around to catch a small trace of her seductively sweet scent. It was fading fast. The wind was sweeping it away and clearing the air. Still, he could easily point out which way she'd gone and something inside him desperately wanted to follow, but he somehow kept himself from making that mistake.

He needed to get down from the deserted building, before his instincts persuaded him to follow a certain X5 in heat. Even with his eyes closed, it wouldn't be a problem. But that didn't matter anymore. Max was probably home now. Safe. And he guessed she'd chosen to spend her aggravating heat hours in her apartment, with a trusting Cindy by her side.

Taking a quick innocent breath, he stared curiously at the neighboring building close by and suddenly smiled arrogantly at himself. He could even smell that Max had used the gutter on the other building as an alternative elevator. Although, her scent was almost gone, there was still an animalistic part of him that begged him to tag along the remains of Max's scent. A voice in his head eagerly challenged him. _Do it. Follow her._

Suddenly a threatening growl filled the deserted building and a terrified bird flew away in a hurry, avoiding the human creature that had let out the frightening sound. Alec raced towards the other side of the building, away from Max's scent and towards the place he'd used as an entrance not so long ago. Again, the voice returned inside his head, complaining about the decision he'd just made. He didn't want to follow her, no. He didn't need to know what would happen _if_ he followed her. He already knew thanks to Manticore and their need to experiment with their little toy soldiers.

He struggled to ignore the uncomfortable memories as he jumped onto the small rusty fire escape and slid down till he landed soundlessly on top of the old Fruity Fruit truck. No longer could he smell anything that indicated that Max had been nearby. Relieved, he took one last jump and landed gracefully on the cold asphalt. It was a good thing that no one was awake or nearby to see him perform the careless stunts he'd just made. An Ordinary would without a doubt question if any normal human being should be capable of such graceful powers. When jumping straight to the ground from what seemed to be the fourth floor's fire escape, you'd surely end up with a lot of broken limbs…

Well, that would only count for the fragile Ordinaries. Alec, on the other hand – not as much as a scratch. He angrily brushed his hands off in his thin t-shirt as he rose from his half crouched position, quickly scanning the alley to ensure that he was completely alone. A fraction of a second later he sighed with relief.

Alone at last.

Further down the alley he noticed his shirt was lying in a small puddle of water and it immediately made his body shudder. Freezing chills covered his arms and the back of his neck when vivid flashes of Max chose to imprint his mind.

Reluctantly, he remembered how she had looked at him. How she had sized him up, licking her lips in the process. And he could honestly say he had never seen that look on her before. A look of pure… _lust_, was it? Well, maybe he'd imagined it once or twice… okay, _a lot_, and clearly his imagination hadn't done her justice. Her eyes had never sparkled as much as it had earlier, her voice had never sounded so soft and seductively sweet before and her _whole_ body had never smelled so deliciously good as it had when she'd finally responded to his.

Max should be horny all the time. It looked nice on her.

Instead of smiling at the surreal memory he lowered his head shamefully, feeling bad about what he'd done to Max. Not to mention the things he'd said to her. He cringed when his last word made a rerun in his head.

"_I'd rather fuck the sluts at the Blowfish than you, you bitch—"_

It made him wonder if their friendship – if what they had could be considered a friendship – was ruined or not.

"God damn heat cycles!" he muttered through clenched teeth.

The next time Max would be in heat, he'd be sure to be out of town for at least a week. There was no way in hell he'd go through that again and surely Max must feel the same way.

Determined and slightly disturbed, he began strolling down the deserted alley, hands tucked in his jeans and his head lowered just low enough to make him look intimidating. It only took him a few minutes before he was home in his apartment. As soon as he'd locked the door he went straight to his liquor cabinet and grabbed the first bottle he saw. He didn't even care what it was, but judging by the spicy, musky taste, it was something cheap and strong. It was just what he needed.

With a heavy thump, he threw himself on his couch and turned on the TV… and two seconds later, his phone rang. Call it instinct or even a premonition, but Alec just knew it was Max. And for that very reason he decided not to answer it. He instead chucked his phone into the wall, resulting in the small device shattering and splintering into a million pieces. He needed a new phone anyway.

"Sorry Max," he muttered into the empty air. "I'm only doing you a favor."

With that, he jumped up from the couch and grabbed a jacket. He needed to get laid, he realized, and for the sake of irony, what better place to go to than the Blowfish?

* * *

A/N - I guess I have some explaining to do, but first off.. I was cleaning my external hard drive (why does that sound so naughty?) when I found this old thing and I figured I might as well post it. I don't really know what my plan/plot was with this, so you can all draw your own conclusions :) ...But boy, oh boy am I sorry! I'm sorry that I never got around to complete this story. It's bad manners to post this 2 years after I started this thing. And sadly, I'm not continuing it. But you're all more than welcome to follow me on fictionpress instead.

Anywho.. gotta blaze!


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